Weight operated toy railway track switch



March 12, 1963 M. ZION WEIGHT OPERATED TOY RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1960 INVENTOR Moses Z /0/\/ ATTORNEYS March 12, 1963 M. ZION wmca'r OPERATED TOY RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Filed May 13, 1960 United States Patent 3,081,400 WEIGHT OPERATED TOY RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH Moses Zion, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to The Lionel Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York 7 Filed May 13, 1960, Ser. No. 28,970

Claims. (Cl. 246-251) This invention relates to electrical switches in general and more particularly to switches operated by the weight of a passing model railway train upon a pivoted track section.

In model railways, when it has been desired to operate some trackside accessory in response to a passing train, it has been customary to employ an electrical switch that was mechanically transferred by some portion of the moving train. This has been employed satisfactorily in the past on large scale model trains, but as the emphasis has changed to smaller gauge model trains made largely of plastic material the train weights have been steadily decreasing. As the model trains became lighter, the risk of derailment of the train by the mechanically tripped trackside switch increased, and therefore an electrical switch responsive to the weight or pressure exerted by a passing train, has many advantages.

The present invention employs a length of track section having an integrally molded transverse cross member in the track base. The track base is pivotally mounted along an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the track section upon a base plate which may be secured to the supporting table. Both the base plate and the pivoted cross member carry cooperating halves of an electrical contact assembly and each contact is in turn connected to its respective binding post. The pivoted cross member is spring biased at one end to maintain the contacts at the other end of the cross member in a normally opened position. As a train approaches the track section of the invention, the trains weight operates to pivot the track base about its pivotal support means to close the normally open contacts located on the'cross member and base plate. In one form of the invention, the cross member resilient biasing means urges one end of the see-saw-like supported cross member toward the base plate in order to raise the opposite end of the cross member and thereby open the electrical contacts. in this embodiment a coil spring is adjustably biased by a thumb nut positioned on a vertically disposed threaded stud portion secured to the base plate.

In this fashion, the invention has provided an improved pressure operated toy railway switch which has an adjustable spring means so that the switch closes only upon the passing of the desired weight railway car.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved adjustable weight sensitive model railway track section which, when pivoted, will operate to control an electrical circuit.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pressure sensitive toy railway switch structure which is integral with a conventional molded plastic track section.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved adjustment means employing a coil spring in combination with the normal resiliency of conventional molded plastics to yield a wide range of operating pressure settings.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a pressure operated switch employing the inherent resiliency of a transverse cross member portion of the track base as the resilient biasing means for said switch.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and the invention will be fully-understood from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

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'FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section showing the electrical contacts taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a transverse section taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 3 showing the pivotal support.

Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention shown generally as 10 includes a molded track base 14 having a pair of spaced parallel rails 16 mounted thereon. The track base 14 includes a transverse cross member portion 31 extending outwardly from each side thereof at approximately the mid-point of the track base. The cross member portion 31 includes a left hand projecting portion 32 and a right hand projecting portion 34. The entire plastic molded track base 14 is pivotally supported by recesses 30 on two upstanding fulcrum points 18 formed from a base plate generally designated 12. The base plate 12 carries at one end an upstanding threaded stud 22 suitably secured, as by peening, at its lower end to the base plate 12. The stud 22 extends upwardly through an aperture 23 in the cross member portion 32, through a spiral compression spring 26 and engages with an adjust ment nut 28. The upper surface of the cross member portion 32 is provided with a recessed portion 24 concentrio with the aperture 23 which acts to radially retain the coil spring '26.

At the opposite end 34 of the cross member portion 31 are two protruding guide portions 50 which slidably engage a T-shaped upstanding tab 20 formed from the metal base plate 12. The tab 20 carries two projecting cars 48 which overlie the projections 50-and limit upward movement of the cross member 31. Attached to th lower side of the cross member portion 31 by a tubular rivet 42 having flanges 44 is a resilient leaf spring contact 40. A terminal binding screw 46 is threadably engaged with the rivet 42 to provide a suitable electrical terminal for the connection of any desired electrical train accessory (not shown). .Affixed to the base plate 12 is a stationary contact 38 which is electrically connected through the conductive metallic base to the terminal binding post 36, also intended to be secured to any desired electrical lead.

Referring to FIG. 3, a distinctive feature of the invention is that the switch operating pressure may be adjusted by the variable vertical positioning of the nut 28 upon the stud 22. AS will be readily understood, as the nut is lowered to compress the spring 26, more weight upon the rails '16 will be required to close the electrical contacts 38 and 40. For contact closure under heavy track loads, a lower position of nut 28 would be required in order to supply the necessary preload to the coil spring 26. A novel aspect of the invention is that when contact closure is only desired under extremely heavy loads for exceeding the strength of the compression spring 26, the adjustment nut 28 may be turned to an even lower position to completely compress the spring 26 and additionally bend the resilient 'cross member portion 32 downward. This resilient flexing of the cross member 32 thereby provides a second spring restraint resisting closure of the contacts allowing them to be set to operate only under high load conditions, such as a locomotive or heavily loaded flat car. This second mode of operation wherein the adjustment nut is lowered to completely compress the coil spring 26 and abut the portion 32, is possible in the invention because the tab portions 48 engage the upper surfaces of the projections 50 at the opposite end of the cross member 31 to thereby limit upward movement thereof. In this mode of operation the operating point of the electrical contacts is determined largely by the spring rate of the cantilever beam portion from the pivot point above the tabs 18 outward to the contacts. The underside of the cross member portion 32 is provided with an incline 33 to allow for downward adjustment thereof utilizing the spring rate of the plastic cross member in order to preload the opposite end of the plastic cross member to any desired high operating pressure. An

extreme downwardly positioning of the nut 28 thereby also becomes an expeditious method for making the switch inoperative to all ordinary train weights.

In operation, it can be seen how the invention has provided a wide range of adjustment of an electrical switch which may be used for operating any one of many well known model railway accessories, such as a train gate, dispatching station, or signal light. The invention allows for the adjustment of the operating pressure for any de sired range of loads from the very light to the very heavy loads by employing both the resilient spring rates of a coil spring and also the spring rate of a plastic cross member portion. While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention principles, it will be under stood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles. Obviously, variations in the design could readily be made wherein the electrical contact'portions are located at the same end of the cross member as the spring adjustment portion, or alternatively, the spring adjustment portion could be repositioned to act upwardly against the end of the cross member portion carrying the contacts.

What is claimed is:

'1. A toy railway pressure operated electrical switch comprising a molded longitudinally elongated track base having a pair of spaced wheel bearing rails thereon, said track base including an integral transverse cross member extending outwardly from each side thereof, one end of said transverse cross member including a leaf spring contact on the lower side thereof and a terminal post connected to said contact, the other end of said cross member having a vertically disposed aperture therethrough and at least one downwardly facing notched support portion located between said cross member aperture and said leaf spring contact, a base plate transverse to said track base below said cross member, said base plate including a vertical portion extending through said cross member aperture, a contact positioned on said base plate below the spring Contact on said cross member, and means for pivoting said cross member engageable with said cross member notched support portion, and adjustable means for resiliently urging the upper surface of the end of the cross member containing the aperture toward the base plate.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vertical stud portion includes a threaded portion extending through said cross member aperture, and wherein said means for resiliently urging one end of said cross member toward the base plate includes a coil spring about said vertical stud portion and threaded nut means engageable with the upper end of said threaded stud.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, including in addi tion a pair of projecting guide portions integral with the end of the cross member mounting the spring contact and wherein said base plate includes a vertically disposed T- shaped tab portion in engagement with said guide portions whereby guiding and upward movement limiting is accomplished.

4. An electrical switch for operation by the pressure of a toy vehicle passing thereover comprising an elongated flat track base having a pair of spaced rails thereon, said track base including a first extending portion projecting horizontally outward from one side thereof, and a second extending portion transversely aligned with said first extending portion, projecting outwardly from the opposite side of said track base, a base plate transverse to said track base extending below said first and second extending portions, means located intermediate said first extending portion and said track base for pivotally mounting said track base upon said base plate so that said track base may move toward said base plate upon passage of a toy vehicle thereover, spring means normally biasing said first extending portion toward said base plate to move said track base and said second extending portion away from said base plate, means to adjust the normal bias force of said spring means, and a pair of opposed circuit controlling contacts carried respectively by said second extending portion and said base plate.

5. An electrical switch according to claim 4 wherein said spring means includes a conically wound coil spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,129,258 .Bonanno Sept. 6, 1938 2,515,209 Frisbie July 18, 1950 2,752,483' Collett June 26, 1956 

4. AN ELECTRICAL SWITCH FOR OPERATION BY THE PRESSURE OF A TOY VEHICLE PASSING THEREOVER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED FLAT TRACK BASE HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED RAILS THEREON, SAID TRACK BASE INCLUDING A FIRST EXTENDING PORTION PROJECTING HORIZONTALLY OUTWARD FROM ONE SIDE THEREOF, AND A SECOND EXTENDING PORTION TRANSVERSELY ALIGNED WITH SAID FIRST EXTENDING PORTION, PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID TRACK BASE, A BASE PLATE TRANSVERSE TO SAID TRACK BASE EXTENDING BELOW SAID FIRST AND SECOND EXTENDING PORTIONS, MEANS LOCATED INTERMEDIATE SAID FIRST EXTENDING PORTION AND SAID TRACK BASE FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID TRACK BASE UPON SAID BASE PLATE SO THAT SAID TRACK BASE MAY MOVE TOWARD SAID BASE PLATE UPON PASSAGE OF A TOY VEHICLE THEREOVER, SPRING MEANS NORMALLY BIASING SAID FIRST EXTENDING PORTION TOWARD SAID BASE PLATE TO MOVE SAID TRACK BASE AND SAID SECOND EXTENDING PORTION AWAY FROM SAID BASE PLATE, MEANS TO ADJUST THE NORMAL BIAS FORCE OF SAID SPRING MEANS, AND A PAIR OF OPPOSED CIRCUIT CONTROLLING CONTACTS CARRIED RESPECTIVELY BY SAID SECOND EXTENDING PORTION AND SAID BASE PLATE. 